Mar 25, 2019 · Pat on the Back. Pass out paper and have each college student trace their hand. Attach the hands to the back of each student with pins or tape. Have them circulate and get other students to write one positive thing each on the hand. When the students are finished, let them read the comments on their hand.
Icebreakers are the first step in creating a welcoming learning environment. The most effective ones help students build connections amongst themselves—and with you. This free list offers 50 icebreakers for any college course, regardless of class size or modality.
Feb 20, 2021 · Find 10 Things that You Have in Common. kristian sekulic/Vetta/Getty Images. This great ice breaker has been used successfully for so many years that its origins are lost in memory. This ice breaker or warm-up activity is fast, easy, and fun. It is a guaranteed success to liven up your meetings and training classes.
COURSE OR ASSIGNMENT–SPECIFIC ICEBREAKERS Use these icebreakers to get students prepared to participate before you run in-class exercises. 20. ALPHABET BRAINSTORMING GROUP SIZE: Groups of 5 or 6 students COURSE TYPE: Online (synchronous), blended, in-person This icebreaker activity works well as a diagnostic exercise. Split students
Classroom icebreakers encourage new students to engage in conversation, allowing everyone to get to know one another. Icebreakers, when used early on, will make students feel at ease in the classroom or team meeting. Icebreakers are great for the first day of classes, but they can also be used later in the semester as a warm-up for teamwork and collaboration. Virtual icebreakers, such as those facilitated by social media, discussion forums, or virtual team sessions, have taken on new relevance in terms of helping people get to know one another.
Pose a question like, “What is your favourite aspect of college and why?” Students discuss the solution in pairs, then rotate the circle to form new pairs for the next question, opening them to their peers’ various points of view. To get students talking, have open-ended questions rather than questions with a yes or no response.
This is a great team-building icebreaker for an in-person learning environment. Arrange students in two circles, one inside the other, with students facing each other in pairs. Ask a question, such as “what’s your favorite thing about college and why?” Pairs discuss the answer, then rotate the circle to form new pairs for the next question—exposing students to the different perspectives of their peers. The trick is to provide open-ended questions rather than those with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to get students talking.
They’re ideal for the first day of school, but can be used throughout the semester and serve as a precursor for teamwork and collaborative learning. Virtual icebreakers —facilitated via social media, discussion boards or in virtual team meetings—have also gained new meaning in helping group members warm up to one another.
The best icebreakers can help students create connections and build a sense of camaraderie in your classroom.
An icebreaker can be as simple as asking students to introduce themselves to the class or to the students sitting next to them, but games and activities offer a chance to interact with a greater number of classmates and build camaraderie. According to a guide 1 from Nottingham Trent University, for classroom icebreaker games “there ought to be a fun aspect to the activities in order to provide participants with some shared history that they can discuss later and, where possible, a relevance to the taught course/university experience.”
Before class, write numbers ‘1’ through ‘7’ on pieces of paper and place them across the room. The sheet with ‘1’ on it could refer to ‘strongly disagree’ while ‘7’ might refer to ‘strongly agree.’ Acting as a facilitator, pose a series of statements related to your discipline—such as “I think television can make children act aggressive” in a social psychology class—and have students move to the side of the wall according to their stance. Students who are comfortable sharing their opinions pertaining to the topic may do so.
The other students in the group must guess which is the lie. This interactive icebreaker could be used during the first day of class to make introductions and reduce first-day jitters, all by sharing fun facts with one another.
They could think about wanting to learn more about your field or simply that their friends were enrolled in your class, too. After five minutes, have students share their picture with the larger group if they’re comfortable—helping students feel like part of one interconnected community.
College class icebreakers give you a chance to learn about the unique individuals you’ll be teaching. While going over the syllabus sets the tone for their future learning environment, icebreaker activities set the tone for the classroom community you’re fostering.
Some students may not know anyone else in the classroom and be nervous about making a bad first impression.
The goal of this is to help students see what they have in common with each other and celebrate differences. Just be sure you ask a wide variety of questions, and that your questions can’t be construed as embarrassing or personal.
Ice breakers, energizers, and engaging activities heighten the effectiveness of training sessions when targeted to the training, speaking, or facilitation topic and the needs of the learners or participants. These ice breaker exercises make it easy for the presenter to segue into the topic of the session.
A Simple Ice Breaker to Use Over Lunch. Here's a fun ice breaker that warms up a group and enables participants at a meal to get to know each other quickly. Usually, ice breakers are recommended that bring participants into discussion about the content of a training or team building session.
The purpose of this ice breaker is to quickly warm up the group with fun and laughter. The ice breaker is a winner because it makes everyone right. Every employee has favorites and the topic is a low-stress ice breaker. It's also fun to ask why it's their favorite.
Ice breakers are also useful to start out meetings and encourage interpersonal communication. You can use an ice breaker unrelated to the topic to start off the meeting with laughter and positive interaction.
It is a guaranteed success to liven up your meetings and training classes. It makes every participant right. Try out this always successful, laughter-generating, simple ice breaker exercise.
What book/movie/show can you watch over and over again without getting bored?
If you could shrink any animal to puppy-size, what animal would you own?
In this icebreaker, you ask the participants to think back over their careers and identify a moment when everything that is great about themselves was operating in high gear. Ask your participants to share that moment with a small group of people. Tell the participants that the secret to their success with this ice breaker is that the moment is probably the first thought that came to their mind when they heard the instructions. You'll never find any participant who doesn't have a moment to share. See more of this icebreaker that allows people to share their personal best.
Participants can't get it wrong. It embarrasses no one and the participants don't have to disclose deep, dark secrets. It's fun to hear the answers from your colleagues when they list their favorites. The key is to keep it light so that participants are comfortable sharing. Stay away from topics such as religion and politics to succeed every time using this icebreaker. See how.
You can use any number for this fun icebreaker that quickly allows participants to share interests. Make the interests germane to your session or let your participants learn more about each other. This icebreaker is easily customized to your meeting's needs. Participants feel safe answering this icebreaker activity because it is not intrusive.
1. The Reception Line. To do this icebreaker for college students, you need to separate the students into two groups. Have each group face each other. Then, each person has to talk to the person across from them until the signal happens for them to move.
When you are first starting the semester, there are many students that you do not know yet. Whether you are a student or a teacher, icebreakers for college students can help everyone get to know each other. They help students introduce themselves and learn interesting facts about each other. They can be used for roommates, classmates ...
For this icebreaker, make the students sit or stand in a circle. One person sits or stands in the middle of the circle. Then, the person in the center points a figure at one of the person in the circle. They say, “Zippity do day, zippity yea, what a wonderful day.” Before they can finish saying this phrase, the person that they point at must call out the name of the player directly to their right.
If this is too hard for the students, you can pair them up instead. Afterward, the partners should lock their arms with their backs to each other. Now, each pair should sit down on the ground with their arms still locked. When you say, “go,” the pairs should try to stand back up without releasing their arms or falling over.